Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest

Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest, a class for the beginning to intermediate shorebird enthusiast.

Shorebirds offer some of the most difficult challenges in bird identification, with the dowitchers, golden plovers, and all those small brownish little peeps.  This class will cover 38 species of shorebirds, all of the common ones and a few uncommon ones that seem to show up every year.  We’ll start the first evening with an over view of all 38 species then discuss a system and a methodology for breaking down identification.  To maximize learning in the short amount of class time, we’ll review over 500 digital shorebird images.  Viewing species such as Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs virtually side-by-side will enhance your learning curve.   We’ll cover some of the more perplexing problems on the second evening and on the field trip.  Since the best way to understand any identification problem with birds is to spend time in the field, we’ll spend a full day (dawn to dusk⁾ in the field.  The field trip is scheduled at the peak of shorebird migration on the Washington coast. 

This course is designed for the beginner to intermediate birder or shorebird enthusiast.  It is not designed to be an advanced course on dowitcher and golden plover identification.  But you will have a good understanding of these species by the time we’re through.  We will focus on the birds.  This is not a photography class.

Tim Boyer is the instructor for this course.   An expert photographer, he has a passion for shorebirds, his favorite group of birds.  According to his friends and family, he spends too much time photographing shorebirds during spring and fall migration. J

Class:  Mondays, April 9 and 23, from 7:00 to 9:15 PM

Meeting Place:  Northlake Unitarian Church, 308 Fourth Avenue
South, Kirkland.

Field trip: Long Beach Peninsula, Washington.  Saturday, April 28, 2007.  Arrangements made at class session.

Cost:  $60 for members, $75 for non-members plus share gas and expenses for carpool to coast for field trip.

Registration:  Call the office at 425-576-8805 on Monday, Tuesday or Friday between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM.  Class limit is 20, minimum 8.  No registration for field trip only.  Registration closes April 6.